Genelec 8020A Active Monitors Great Sound for Metrovision's HD1

— HD-1 has covered the Olympics in Vancouver, Yoko Ono in New York, the Yankees in spring training and much more with two sets of Genelec 8020A Active Monitors —

NATICK, MA, May 24, 2010 — New York-based production and broadcast service provider Metrovision’s HD-1 remote production truck has recently been a fixture for the audio production of high-profile events. In just the first few months of 2010, it has been a key part of the sound production for numerous events. Highlights have included comedian/commentator Bill Maher’s recent HBO special; Yoko Ono’s “We Are Plastic Ono Band” 77th birthday celebration concert at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (featuring Eric Clapton); the Winter Olympics in Vancouver; on site in Tampa Bay, Florida, for the New York Yankees’ spring training season broadcast on the YES network; the Yankees in Boston playing against the Red Sox, for a Japanese NHK broadcast; the 2010 NBC Upfront presentation; and NYU’s graduation ceremony at Yankee Stadium. Aboard the HD-1, all reference audio is done via 8020A Bi-Amplified Active Monitors fromGenelec, the pioneer in Active Monitoring technology for three decades.

The Genelec monitors are installed in two separate areas of the HD-1 vehicle. The audio control room has a complete 5.1 system utilizing five Genelec 8020A monitors and a Genelec 7050B Active Subwoofer for low-frequency reproduction. The truck’s production room has five more 8020A monitors set up in a surround configuration but without a subwoofer. “There needs to be a lot of communication between people working in the production area, and LFE in there would hinder that,” says Paul Wolf, Engineer-in-Charge on the HD-1. “But we know that we’re getting great low-frequency response from the Genelec sub in the audio control room, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

Two additional pairs of Genelec 8020A’s are also kept aboard the HD-1 for use inside broadcast venues, such as for remote audio, from green rooms and other areas, that is fed back to the HD-1’s control room. That creates an all-Genelec monitoring environment, no matter where the audio is being heard. “That consistency means a lot to making the broadcasts sound as good as they do,” Wolf says, adding that the quality-control area of the HD-1 is also slated to get a set of Genelec 6010A Desktop Bi-Amplified Loudspeakers in the near future.

Wolf notes that the decision to outfit the HD-1 with Genelec monitors was based on sound and size. “It’s a lot of sound for the size, which is exactly what you’re looking for when it comes to monitoring in a confined space,” he says. “And as broadcast sound for sports has gotten better, we need the absolute best monitors available, and we have them in the Genelecs.”

The 8020A has recently been updated to the 8020B model offering similar performance.

Photo: New York-based production and broadcast service provider Metrovision’s HD-1 remote production truck, featuring Genelec 8020A Bi-Amplified Active Monitors and 7050B Active Subwoofers in a 5.1 array, on location at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.